The 4th Edition redesign of the Halls of the Mountain King is now complete, and email has been sent to all its patrons. Please check your mail for details of where to download the project and/or where to grab a print version.

And Merry Christmas from the Ironcrags!

I've been doing this since I started blogging, and this year is no exception.

A quote which sums up my feelings regarding the holiday, even as a non-Christian:

"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,'' returned the nephew: "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!''
-- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol


In short, it's a holiday that often makes people treat one another just a bit BETTER. Even if only for a short time. There's surely something wonderous in that.

Merry Christmas, all.

Anyone know of any library scanners that aren't hideously expensive? A lot of the books I work with won't stay flat easily, or have very fragile pages, and are getting a little more damaged every time I put them on the scanner. Something like a saddle-style (inverted V) scanner would help a lot, but they're VERY expensive. I think that there are alternatives that use cameras, but I don't know much about them.

Pointed out by ps238principal - Cat-Nav

From loremaster2085 

(Made me tear up. Thank you.)


 

I was about to start scanning the illustrated version of The Purple Cloud I found in The Royal Magazine tonight. Then I remembered to check the author's dates. And of course M.P. Sheil died 1n 1947, a year after Wells, and won't go out of European copyright until 2017.

Oh well...

On the other hand, I have scanned another 36 stereoscopic photos, and sorted out some other minor things for the FF CD-ROM, so I haven't exactly been wasting my time today.

And for ping-pong fans everywhere, here's ( what the game looked like in 1901 )

My buddy Josh Roby ( joshroby ) has an intriguingly different look at Avatar. Worth your attention.

The second contestant for the crown is for 3E/OGL the Pathfinder RPG, the Echidna. Two in a row with solid mythological roots and solid mechanical design.

It's going to be tough picking a winner from this Top 10.

Do as I do, not as I say.

Central heating is working again - the fan was the culprit so the repair only took about half an hour - and my flat is warming up nicely.

In other news, I seriously want to see this film

WARNING - NOT EVEN SLIGHTLY WORK SAFE TRAILER, VERY VIOLENT

Expect fanfic sooner or later if the rest of it lives up to the trailer.

I am here to confirm that the Arkham Asylum game does indeed magically turn you into Batman. Fucking awesome. 

The first of the Top 10 monsters from the King of the Monsters contest has been posted today, and it's a classic of Welsh mythology.

Give it a look; we'll have more Top 10 monsters tomorrow and in coming weeks.

I've got another book sorted for the FF CD-ROM; War of the Wenuses, an 1898 parody of War of the Worlds. A bit on the silly side, with women from Venus invading so that they can raid London's most fashionable shops.

NO one would have believed in the first years of the twentieth century that men and modistes on this planet were being watched by intelligences greater than woman's and yet as ambitious as her own. With infinite complacency maids and matrons went to and fro over London, serene in the assurance of their empire over man. It is possible that the mysticetus does the same. Not one of them gave a thought to Wenus as a source of danger, or thought of it only to dismiss the idea of active rivalry upon it as impossible or improbable. Yet across the gulf of space astral women, with eyes that are to the eyes of English women as diamonds are to boot-buttons, astral women, with hearts vast and warm and sympathetic, were regarding Butterick's with envy, Peter Robinson's with jealousy, and Whiteley's with insatiable yearning, and slowly and surely maturing their plans for a grand interstellar campaign.

I think the text is OK, it was printed in VERY large type which was a dream to OCR. I don't want to put it on line generally yet, it's going to be one of the extras on the FF XI release disk, but if anyone feels like taking a read through of this or Farewell Nikola I'd be grateful - they really need more pairs of eyes to eliminate all the errors.

Charles Stross has written a new Laundry story for Xmas: Overtime

And very good it is too.

Another comic adaptation hits the big screen... not the pansy Marvel type though so if you don't like foul language and violence then I wouldn't click on the link to watch the trailer :p

I can't get the video to play in LJ, so you'll have to click on the link here.

An amazing speech. Congrats, sir. You've just earned the title "statesman."

Also, to be clear on my own stance, I'm against the current bill. I don't like it. As a Senator or Congressman, I'd vote against it. I've always felt laws should be simple and clear. From what I've read and heard, this one isn't. More lawmakers should take game design seminars.

If you use the Bible to defend anti-gay stances, you'd better get rid of your Christmas tree. Just as the LORD don't like them gays, he also don't like them Christmas trees.

(Jeremiah, Chapter 10, Verses 1-5)

1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.


You can't pick and choose, people. If its the word of your god, its the word of your god. You can equivicate all you want. But there it is, clear as crystal.

Get rid of your Christmas tree. It cannot do evil, neither also can it do good.

For all those who escaped the zombie apocalypse on the stage of the Midnight Riders' last show, the website on the poster is real. Fuck yeah. 





And here's their youtube channel.

Many of you already know about this, but at Animalball, we decided a few years ago to give all our games away for free download. So just a reminder, if you want to, feel free to download and enjoy any of these games:

Instant Game, by Mike and Kyle Jones: Instant Game is the completely random gaming system through which the players and gamemaster determine the genre, setting, location and plot of the game at the beginning of each session. Years in development, the full version of Instant Game comes with all the rules for creating and playing a campaign, and has the full charts for creating every aspect of your game session, including optional tables for villains, major NPCs, personality traits and more.

Animalball Melee, by Mike Jones: Animalball Melee is a simplified d20 combat engine for quick and easy gladiator fighting. While it can be used for a full-fledged roleplaying campaign, Animalball Melee is intended for one-shot, pick-up-and-play combats. An homage to the Fanatasy Trip's original game, Melee, Animalball Melee is takes the d20 combat system and boils it down to its bare essentials to streamline combat.

Sandbox Hill, by Kyle Jones: Sandbox Hill is an 18 page simulation/wargame of the simplest variety. Get your army men, get your rubber bands and be prepared for a fall-down drag-out war that may take the whole weekend.

50 Random Bar Encounters, by Mike and Kyle Jones: Developed under the OGL, 50 Bar Encounters is exactly what the name says- 50 encounters to use in your D&D or fantasy campaign. Each encounter is a brief, short encounter to throw into your existing campaign, so short and entertaining, others deadly serious which can be expanded into entire sidequests if desired.

The Steadfast Shield, by Caz Granberg: Developed under the OGL, the Steadfast Shield is a 32 page, beginner level adventure for four to six characters. With full maps and descriptions, the Steadfast Shield is a great intro-level adventure for use with 3.5.

These are just the most popular games, as discussed every week on our podcast, there's even more free games on our games page.